


so young men build the future

by starkly



Series: you've been thunderstruck [5]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Alternate Universe - Post-Apocalypse, Dogs, Domestic, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-20
Updated: 2020-12-20
Packaged: 2021-03-11 01:47:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,350
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28187145
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/starkly/pseuds/starkly
Summary: Life in the aftermath of world-ending ruin is awfully quiet. Thankfully, with Thor at Tony's side and a new addition to the household, there's rarely a dull moment.
Relationships: Tony Stark/Thor
Series: you've been thunderstruck [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2064666
Comments: 3
Kudos: 42





	so young men build the future

**Author's Note:**

> Originally written for NaNoWriMo 2020 and [posted here](https://aleator.tumblr.com/post/634016880010625024) on my tumblr writing blog. This fic was proofread before being uploaded here but is otherwise unchanged.
> 
> Prompts taken from the AU-gust 2020 challenge list on Twitter. Day Five: Post-Apocalypse AU.
> 
> Title taken from Beowulf. Content warning: non-lethal animal injury.

They never tell you how boring surviving an apocalypse will be. Sure, in the immediate aftermath there was danger and desperation, the struggle to pick yourself back up, to save people, to survive another day. But now, when the danger has passed and there’s only decaying cities surrounding you, at some point you have to sit yourself down and say, “This is it. This is what you have. This is life.”

Tony collects radios. He scavenges for parts, fixing any broken machines, and whenever some lost soul passes through he gives them one of the radios he’s collected and fixed. They won’t last forever--eventually the parts will give out or there will be no more batteries to find--but it’s just one small thing he can do to try and keep people connected.

Thor does physical tasks to calm his mind. He chops firewood, goes hunting, attempts to learn how to garden. Sometimes Tony suggests they find a group to live with, some commune they can join, but for now Thor likes the peace and quiet, and they get by all right on their own.

In the daylight they go into the city and scavenge for what they can, try to help other people who are just passing through or attempting to rebuild their lives in the rubble. At night, they return to the abandoned house they’ve made their home outside the city, fixing it up and making it habitable again. It’s a lot quieter than their lives used to be, but after everything that’s happened they could use some quiet.

Unfortunately for Tony, Thor seems to like making that quiet impossible.

He’s in their garden working on making space for more rows when Thor returns from his trip into the city, carrying what looks like a dead goat. Thor’s hands and face are bloody, and Tony yelps in alarm and drops his shovel, rushing over to meet him.

Turns out the blood is mostly not Thor’s, and the dead goat isn’t dead or a goat, but it is a badly injured dog. Tony helps Thor find clean water and rags and together they clean off the blood and dirt and bandage the dog’s wounds. Tony doesn’t say a word until they’re finished, the great big Mastiff-looking thing asleep in a pile of old bedding.

Tony sits back and wipes off his hands with a dirty rag, finally looking questioningly at Thor.

“I was on the way back when a mountain lion appeared on the path,” Thor explains with a weary sigh, taking the clean towel Tony hands him so he can clean himself off. “Came right up to me from my blind side. I must have gotten too close to its cubs or something, because it was overly aggressive with me. I tried to scare it off but it kept coming, and then this thing--” He gestures at the dog. “--comes out of nowhere and fends off the lion. I managed to finally get the creature to disengage, but...”

He frowns and stares down at the sleeping dog. “It was a foolish move, but I couldn’t just leave him there.”

Tony goes over and sets a hand on Thor’s arm, leaning up to kiss him on the cheek. “I wouldn’t expect anything else. We’ll make sure he’s okay. But for now let me make sure you’re okay.”

“I’m fine,” Thor insists, letting Tony draw him into the bathroom anyway. He sits on the closed toilet seat and stays quiet while Tony fusses over him, cleaning his minor injuries and putting a few bandages over them. Once Tony’s satisfied that everything truly is alright, he tips Thor’s face up by the chin and presses a gentle kiss to his lips.

“Don’t scare me like that again,” he chides.

“Never, beloved,” Thor promises, and draws Tony in for a longer, hungrier kiss.

It takes a few days before the dog is even able to get up enough to walk around their little kitchen. His appetite is improving (and boy does he eat a lot), so Tony takes that as a good sign, and with what limited first aid he knows, he’s pretty sure none of the dog’s injuries have gotten infected.

He’s no miracle worker, however, and he reluctantly tells Thor he doesn’t think the dog’s injured eye can be saved. Thor just nods, hand absently brushing over the edge of his own eyepatch, and Tony reaches out and cards his fingers through Thor’s hair, pressing soft kisses all over Thor’s face to distract him before he can get lost in any bad memories.

They end up naming the dog Beowulf, because they have to call him something other than “the dog”, and Thor already vetoed Tony’s choice of calling him Chewbacca. Tony doesn’t even think about asking Thor if they’re going to keep him. He has no doubt that Thor wants to keep him.

Day by day they nurse Beowulf back to health, teaching him to navigate the world with one less eye now. Sometimes Tony catches Thor sitting with Beowulf outside in the grass, just holding the giant dog in his lap and rubbing his back and telling him everything’s going to be okay. Those nights Tony holds Thor a little tighter in their cramped bed, rubbing his back and telling him too that everything’s going to be okay.

Beowulf doesn’t seem to have an owner, or at least nobody he wants to go back to. He had no collar when Thor found him and even when he’s out in the woods with them he never runs off without coming back soon after. As much as Tony complains about having another mouth to feed, he’s secretly glad that Beowulf really seems to be theirs now. He doesn’t think he could handle Thor’s sadness if Beowulf went away.

So Tony tolerates Beowulf climbing into their already too small bed with them, and putting his paws on the table to beg for food, and running through their garden and tracking mud inside the house, and everything else that big, teddy bear-ish dogs do. Anything that makes Thor happy makes Tony happy too.

“It’s been a year,” Thor says quietly one evening, the two of them sitting shoulder to shoulder on the small front stoop of their house.

“Hm?” Tony replies absently, scratching Beowulf behind the ears while the big dog lazes about at their feet.

“Since we moved in here.”

Tony stops indulging Beowulf and looks up at Thor, caution in his eyes. Thor doesn’t like to talk about what happened, even now. Tony knows the sting of it hurts him more keenly, that he had far more to lose back then than Tony did. Tony tries not to poke at that hurt if he can help it.

“That means we must’ve had Wolf for what, six months now?” he says lightly.

Thor makes a soft noise of agreement with Tony’s calculations, and Tony slips a hand down between them to take hold of Thor’s, entwining their fingers and giving his hand a squeeze.

“Maybe we should celebrate. It’s like a half birthday.”

“We don’t know when Wolf’s birthday is,” Thor points out, but there’s a small smile on his face and Tony considers that a win.

“His birthday’s when you brought him home and made him family. So let’s celebrate.” Still holding Thor’s hand, Tony stands up and tries to tug Thor up with him so they can go inside and find something to celebrate with.

Thor shakes his head but he gets up without protest, smiling warmly at Tony as he pulls him close for a kiss.

“Thank you,” he whispers, lips brushing against Tony’s jaw despite the prickle of his stubble.

Tony just cups Thor’s cheek with his free hand and kisses him again, at least until Beowulf gets up and pushes his way between the two of them, unhappy with being left out. Thor laughs his deep, hearty laugh, and Tony smiles wide at the sound. Day by day, that’s all they have to do. Tony’s certain they can handle that as long as they’re together.


End file.
